Kerry discusses Nagorno Karabakh conflict with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia

Kerry discusses Nagorno Karabakh conflict with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia
# 25 April 2016 20:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday held separate telephone conversations with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and discussed the settlement of the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, said State Department spokesman John Kirby, APA reports.

"They discussed the need to talk to the sides to adhere strictly to the ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to enter negotiations for a comprehensive settlement," - he said at a briefing Kirby.

Kerry also discussed bilateral relations with leaders.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Poland, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nagorno Garabagh

#
#

THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED